There is known an original device for peculiar thermal wave massage procedure (Russian patent 2313326 “METHOD AND DEVICE FOR MAKING WATER-THERMAL PROCEDURE”, as well as a paper “Devices of Thermal Wave Massage”, Jun. 4, 2008, Bank of business-offers, http://www.bizbank.ru). The device comprises of a mixer-controller, which allows for obtaining both hot and cold water with a controlled temperature difference between them. The disadvantage is its limited function: it controls the temperature difference between hot and cold water at the outlet, but is unable to control the average temperature.
There are also known single handle faucets with a ball valve (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,472,279 “Single handle ball valve faucet”) or ceramic one (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,736,959 “Single lever faucet”), which regulate both temperature and flow discharge of mixed water by changing the position of a movable part, containing slots (a ball in the first case, and a flat disk in the second one) in relation to an immovable part being in close contact therewith, which immovable part also has slots. The shape of the slots in these parts is chosen in a way such that any change of the current position of the parts relatively to each other causes alterations of the cross-sections of the passages for hot and cold water. As a result, it is possible to control the proportion between the hot and cold water flowing through the passages and, thus, provide the desired temperature and pressure of mixed water. The above-mentioned ceramic faucet is chosen as the closest related art device (prototype) to the invention proposed.
The disadvantage of the described devices is limited functionality thereof that provides for a desired temperature of the mixed water, but does not provide for a controlled difference between the temperatures of outlet hot water and outlet cold water.
The aim of the present invention is to extend the functionality of known hot-cold water mixers, particularly to provide the capability of control of the average temperature of mixed outlet water, as well as of control of the difference between the temperatures of outlet hot water and outlet cold water.
This problem is solved by using a single handle faucet with an operating lever that has two degrees of freedom, one of which is used to control the average temperature of hot and cold water in outlet of the mixer, and the other one is used to control the contrast, i.e. the difference between the temperature of outlet hot water and the temperature of outlet cold water.
Hereafter, we shall refer to the hot and cold water at the outlet of the inventive mixer-controller as ‘warm’ and ‘tepid’ water, respectively. Thus we can distinguish between this water and the hot and cold water at the inlet of the mixer-controller. In addition, this definition more adequately describes the reality, because, during the tuning of the mixer, the warm water temperature varies from the temperature of hot water at the hot inlet to an average temperature of the hot and cold water, and the tepid water temperature varies respectively from the temperature of cold water at the cold inlet to the same average temperature of the hot and cold water.
The invention proposes to use a contact pair, consisting of an immovable and a movable part, being in sliding contact with each other; the movable and immovable parts each includes a number of predetermined slots made therein. The movable part is controlled by a lever, and has two degrees of freedom to move relative to the immovable part. In conformity with the proposed invention, there are different design variants of the mixer-controller, which differ by the type of contact surface: flat, spherical, or cylindrical, as well as by the shape of the slots in the contacting parts. However, the design variants are all united by some common features: the mixer has separate outlet openings for warm and tepid water streams, which are formed by mixing the incoming hot and cold water in portions, which depend on the areas of cross sections of the corresponding passages, which areas in turn are determined by the position of the movable part relative to the immovable one.
The shape of the slots is chosen in such a way that a motion of the movable part along a first degree of freedom involves an increase (or decrease) of the hot fraction in the warm water, and a respective increase (or decrease) of the cold fraction in the tepid water that allows changing the difference between the temperature of warm water and the temperature of tepid water (herein further called a ‘contrast’); on the other hand, a motion of the movable part along a second degree of freedom involves an increase (or decrease) of the hot fraction (or the cold fraction) in the warm water and in the tepid water synchronously, that allows changing the average temperature of warm and tepid water (herein further called an ‘average temperature’) simultaneously.
The implementation of the invention improves the ergonomic characteristics of thermal wave massage devices that makes it possible to control main parameters of the thermal wave massage procedure, using only a single handle.